Mexico’s Sheinbaum pushes back on Trump over migrant deaths and Cuba

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government on Tuesday protested the deaths of its citizens in U.S. immigration custody. President Claudia Sheinbaum pushes back against US President Donald Trump policies on multiple fronts

The progressive Mexican leader has been walking a careful line with Trump for more than a year, taking provocations with a measured tone and trying to make amends by accommodating his demands that the United States crack down on criminal cartels more than his predecessors did. tariff threats and US military action against gangs.

But after Rising deaths of Mexican citizens in the custody of immigration officials and the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba, a key ally of Mexico, Sheinbaum took a tougher tone.

“We’ve seen the president raise his tone,” said Palmira Tapia, an analyst at the Mexican Center for Economic Research and Teaching. “There’s been a shift and we’ve seen Sheinbaum become more vocal than before.”

Deaths in ICE custody

Sheinbaum’s latest rebuke came Tuesday, a day after Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, a 49-year-old Mexican citizen, died at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Louisiana; It was the fifteenth death of a Mexican citizen in U.S. custody in just over a year.

The Mexican government immediately said the deaths were “unacceptable” and that ICE detention centers were “incompatible with human rights standards and the protection of life.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, Sheinbaum added that he demanded an investigation into the deaths of 15 migrants and instructed Mexican consulates to visit detention centers every day.

He said his government would bring deaths in detention centers to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and was considering appealing to the United Nations. His government has already announced that it will support lawsuits filed by detainees in the United States due to poor conditions.

“We will defend Mexicans at every level,” Sheinbaum said, adding: “There are many Mexicans whose only crime is not having documents.”

The Sheinbaum government’s moves come on top of growing disapproval in the United States of Trump’s sanctions on immigrants. Nearly 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump is “going too far” in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to a February report from AP-NORC questionnaire.

“Increasing dissatisfaction with ICE activities in the United States creates a more comfortable platform for members of the Mexican government to voice their concerns about the fate of Mexican citizens,” said Carin Zissis, vice president of content strategy for the Council of the Americas.

‘A cool head’

Sheinbaum maintained his “calm” attitude towards provocations from Trump, who has exerted more pressure on Latin America than any US leader in decades. In just a few months, the Trump administration impeached Venezuela’s president. imposed an oil blockade on Cuba And threat of military intervention Against Mexican cartels.

He must balance maintaining a strong relationship with Trump while repeatedly emphasizing Mexico’s sovereignty to appease his base. His measured responses sound more like those of a lawyer than the leader of Mexico’s most powerful populist political movement.

His government has been tougher on cartels than his predecessor and strengthened trade relations ahead of a renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, free trade agreement.

While Trump publicly criticized Sheinbaum, at one point arguing that the cartels had more control over Mexico than his government, he also regularly touted their friendly relations.

“He’s a really good person, I like him a lot,” he said last month, continuing to imitate the Mexican leader loudly.

Division over Cuba

But changing geopolitics in the region and rising deaths at ICE facilities also opened the door for Sheinbaum to take a tougher stance.

The main point of contention between the two governments was Cuba. Since the famous Cuban revolution, which Fidel Castro, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and a group of exiles planned while in Mexico City, solidarity with the United States’ adversary has been a cornerstone of Mexico’s political ethos. This is a particular sticking point with the progressive Morena party, whose founder Sheinbaum took office.

The relationship hit a snag in late January when Trump announced he would do so. Impose tariffs on any country sending oil to Cuba. The move directly affected Mexico, which has been transporting oil to Cuba for years.

Sheinbaum reluctantly Oil shipments to Cuba were stoppedHe continued to challenge the Trump administration’s regime change efforts.

“Mexico has the right to send fuel, whether for humanitarian or commercial reasons,” Sheinbaum said earlier this week.

He called Trump’s energy blockade of Cuba “unfair” and accused the US government of “suffocating” Cubans with sanctions. There is a Mexican leader sent food and other aid shipmentsand even donated $1,000 of his own money to relief efforts in a symbolic gesture.

“This is a Rubicon issue for him,” said Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico’s former ambassador to the United States.

Even then, the Mexican leader’s moves caused surprise in Washington.

Sheinbaum recently visited his country’s Cuban doctors will continue to work in the countryIt differs from other countries in Central America and the Caribbean that have terminated their programs in the face of pressure from the United States.

It was met with veiled threats from the Trump administration, pointing to visa restrictions on Central American officials linked to what U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called a “forced labor scheme.”

The White House had no comment Tuesday on Sheinbaum’s heavy-handed stance, nor did it comment on the rising number of deaths of Mexican citizens in ICE custody.

More leverage

Zissis said Sheinbaum’s bolder tone of late points to a calculation that his administration can pull back on some politically important fronts as long as it makes progress on strengthening trade and meeting the Trump administration’s demands on security and immigration.

At the same time, due to rising energy prices Iran war He and other analysts have said it makes the United States more dependent on its allies in Mexico and encourages Washington to back off any harsh moves against the Mexican cartels or Cuba, at least in the short term.

“We are in a period where we are facing different economic uncertainties due to global events. This gives the United States and Mexico more reasons to work together,” he said.

Sarukhan, also a former ambassador to Mexico, said Sheinbaum must be careful not to jeopardize the upcoming USMCA renegotiations, for which his government has made painstaking efforts to build a strong foundation.

“What will be interesting going forward is whether he can continue to have his cake and eat it,” Sarukhan said.

——

Weissert reported from Washington, D.C.